When we announced the expansion of the YouTube Partner Programme late last year, our goal was to offer some of the most popular and prolific original content creators in the YouTube community an easy way to generate revenue from their videos on the site. (For a quick recap of how the programme works, see our previous blog post.)

Like the Internet itself, the YouTube community crosses borders and cultural boundaries. As part of our ongoing plan to reflect international user contribution to our service -- we've already localised our service for 18 countries -- we're excited to announce that once again we are expanding the YouTube Partner Programme, this time by rolling out the initiative internationally. First stop, the United Kingdom. Now anyone living in the UK can apply to become a partner at uk.youtube.com/partners.

The programme has grown significantly since its initial launch, with millions of video views each day earning revenue for our partners. We look forward to bringing the YouTube Partner Programme to more international users in the near future. Where will we expand next? Stay tuned…

We've improved your video browsing experience by fully exposing the search options on the Videos page (searches like 'Most Viewed' and 'Recently Featured' were previously found via a dropdown menu). This makes it quicker and easier to find what you're looking for.

RECENT COMMENTS

To display the most recent comments you have made on YouTube videos, choose the new 'My Recent Comments' setting in your profile. On your channel page, users can also click 'View All' to see all comments you have ever made.

This week, the You Choose '08 platform, the hub for American political content has been turned on for the United Kingdom and Spain. These new platforms include the official YouTube channels of the major political parties in both countries and enable you to interact with local politicians through video. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has already kick-started the conversation:

Alongside the UK Politics hub page, we have also launched UKYouChoose, where we hope to encourage wide-ranging political discussion and debate. If there is an issue that you would like to raise relating to politics in the UK, please mail us about adding your video to the page.

In Spain, where the elections are just over a month away, voters have the chance to ask the candidates questions on live television through a special partnership with RTVE, Spain's largest broadcaster. Much like in our CNN/YouTube debates, Spanish voters are submitting video questions for the candidates, who will then answer a handful of them in six live television interviews.

Citizens and candidates around the world are using YouTube for political discussion, as we've seen recently in Kenya, Japan, Australia, and Myanmar. And as we continue to launch localised versions of our site, we will continue to build areas where you can learn more about your leaders and interact directly with them.

Today we're excited to announce the official debut of YouTube for Mobile, featuring a new and improved mobile website, m.youtube.com! Until today, many of you who tried watching videos on m.youtube.com from your mobile phones may have longed to see a wider selection of videos and more community features that you've come to know and love on YouTube.com. Now you can, and here's what's changed:

Millions of videos: YouTube for Mobile now features tens of millions of videos, which includes most of the videos already available on YouTube.com and your own uploaded videos.

Community on the go: You can now access your YouTube account, your Favourites, your own uploaded Videos and your favourite Channels. You can also share, rate, and comment directly from the mobile website to other YouTube users.

Mobile phone uploads available within moments: Now if you upload videos from your phone to YouTube via email/mms, they will appear in moments on both m.youtube.com and www.youtube.com. This means you can easily share videos you capture on your phone with your friends and family. All you need to do is create a mobile profile at www.youtube.com/mobile.

As long as your phone and mobile operator support streaming video, anyone can access YouTube for Mobile simply by going to 'm.youtube.com' in their phone browser. There are a couple requirements for supporting YouTube for Mobile:

1. Your device has to support RTSP streaming. To determine if your mobile device supports this type of streaming, you may want to check your device's manual to find a description of its specifications.

2. Your service carrier has to allow streaming videos. You may want to contact your carrier for more information about the availability of data streaming on your mobile device.

In addition, we're also releasing a beta version of a YouTube for Mobile downloadable application. It's different from the YouTube for Mobile website (m.youtube.com) because it is a Java (J2ME) application you install on your phone, whereas m.youtube.com you access via your phone's web browser. The app is available in US and UK English and supports the following phones:

Sony Ericsson k800, w880

Nokia e65, n95, n73, 6110 navigator and 6120 classic

To download the app, simply point your phone browser to m.youtube.com and if your phone's one of the above, you should be prompted to download and install the application.

You may be wondering, "Is YouTube for Mobile the same as what's available on the Helio Ocean or Apple iPhone?" In a nutshell, yes -- YouTube for Mobile is all about bringing video to mobile phones. We believe in providing the best user experience possible for all users, which in some cases means different YouTube solutions for different phones. Overall, we're pretty excited about working with our partners and users to make YouTube for Mobile better and better over the next year.

So point your phone browser to m.youtube.com and check out the latest changes today! And if you've got any feedback for us on YouTube for Mobile, leave us a comment on this blog entry or post a video response to the video below, in which YouTube for Mobile team members Andy and Dwipal tell you about the new features:

If you want to be part of the UK User Panel and have yet to sign up, you have until midnight on Sunday, January 20, to do the deed – or forever hold your peace (apart from when commenting, making videos, rating, messaging and generally doing what you do around the site).

We have had a great response to the initial callout and are poised to unleash the first wave of the programme, which will look to address some of the many issues you raised in the sign-up process. Just to reiterate, the plan is to offer panel members the opportunity to check out new developments in the site first, voice their opinions and give us at YouTube an improved understanding of how UK users actually use the site.

If you want to be part of the process, head here and fill out the form. We’re waiting to hear from you (well, until midnight on Sunday).

We're happy to ring in 2008 with a performance by Radiohead; it's a private in-studio rendition of In Rainbows. This unique video is titled "Scotch Mist (a film with Radiohead in it)" and was taped a few weeks ago at the band's UK studio (and out and about in the neighbouring countryside). Not only does it include an intimate rundown of songs from the band's new album, it tosses in Oxfordshire lad slow-mo antics along with a few animated surprises.

To all those who dare to leap into the new year on a bold note, Happy 2008!